Communication system, connection control apparatus, mobile terminal, base station control method, service request method, and program

ABSTRACT

A communication system, in which a mobile terminal uses a data path that was generated with an ISP network by a base station in a home network to access a NW via the ISP network, includes an authentication means and connection control means in the ISP network. The base station accepts an access request from the mobile terminal and transmits information relating to the base station and the mobile terminal to the connection control means. The authentication means determines based on the information whether a linking service that connects to the home NW without traversing the ISP network can be provided to the mobile terminal, and if the linking service can be provided, notifies this information to the connection control means. Based on this notification, the connection control means requests the base station to generate a data path for providing the linking service, and the base station generates the data path.

This application is the National Phase of PCT/JP2009/067330, filed Oct.5, 2009, which claims the benefits of priority based on Japanese PatentApplication No. 2008-259659 for which application was submitted on Oct.6, 2008 and incorporates by citation all of disclosures of thatapplication.

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a communication system, a connectioncontrol apparatus, a mobile terminal, a base station control method, aservice request method, and a program.

2. Background Art

With the development of the so-called third-generation portabletelephone systems in recent years, it is becoming possible to installbase stations for femtocells with a coverage range having a radius onthe order of several tens of meters in offices and residences, to accessnodes such as stationary terminals of home NW (Network) or office NWfrom portable mobile terminals, and to operate these nodes.

An example of a communication system that incorporates this type offemtocell base station is described in 3GPP TR 25.820 V8.0.0 “3G HomeNode B Study Item Technical Report (Release 8)” (hereinbelow referred toas Document 1).

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of acommunication system that incorporates the femtocell base stationdescribed in Document 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, this communication system is made up from: mobileterminal ISP (Internet Service Provider) network 301, Home GW (Gateway)ISP network 302, access network 303, and home NW 304.

In addition, mobile terminal ISP network 301 includes HSS (HomeSubscriber Server) 311, PDN (Packet Data Network)-GW 312, MME (MobilityManagement Entity) 313, and Serving GW 314; Home GW ISP network 302includes router 321; access network 303 includes BAS (broadband AccessServer) 331; and the home NW includes mobile terminal 341, femtocellbase station 342, Home GW 343, and stationary terminal 344.

The operations of a communication system having this type ofconfiguration are next described.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for describing an example of the operations ofthe communication system shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, mobile terminal 341 first transmits to femtocellbase station 342 an attach request as an access request for accessing anetwork by way of femtocell base station 342 (Step 700).

Femtocell base station 342, having received the attach request,transmits an attach trigger to MME 313 by way of Home GW 343, BAS 331,and router 321 (Step 701).

MME 313 receives the attach trigger and, upon detecting the attachrequest of mobile terminal 341, implements the access authentication ofmobile terminal 341 (Step 702).

Upon success of the access authentication of mobile terminal 341, MME313 transmits a data path generation request to Serving GW 314 (Step703).

Upon receiving the data path generation request, Serving GW 314exchanges signaling for generating a data path with PDN-GW 312 andgenerates a data path between Serving GW 314 and PDN-GW 312 (Step 704).Serving GW 314 then transmits a data path generation response to MME 313to report the completion of data path generation (Step 705).

Upon receiving the data path generation response, MME 313 transmits adata path generation request to femtocell base station 342 to generate adata path as far as mobile terminal 341 (Step 706).

Upon receiving the data path generation request, femtocell base station342 generates a data path with mobile terminal 341 (Step 707) andtransmits a data path generation response to MME 313 (Step 708).

A data path is thus generated between mobile terminal 341 and PDN-GW312, whereby mobile terminal 341 is able to access the network fromPDN-GW 312 via mobile terminal ISP network 301. Mobile terminal 341subsequently is able to access and manipulate stationary terminal 344 inhome NW 304 via the network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention

However, the communication system described in Document 1 has thedrawback that the data path between mobile terminal 341 and stationaryterminal 344 follows an inefficient communication path. This problemarises because, in the communication system described in Document 1,femtocell base station 342 in home NW 304 connects to mobile terminalISP network 301 by way of a cellular-existing IF (interface) andestablishes a data path between mobile terminal 341 and mobile terminalISP network 301, and mobile terminal 341 uses this data path to accessthe network by way of mobile terminal ISP network 301. As a result, whenmobile terminal 341 communicates with stationary terminal 344 in home NW304, all IP packets that are communicated between mobile terminal 341and stationary terminal 344 traverse mobile terminal ISP network 301.

As a method of solving this drawback, a method can be considered inwhich mobile terminal 341 communicates with stationary terminal 344 byway of femtocell base station 342 and Home GW 343 without generating adata path with mobile terminal ISP network 301. However, in this case,connection control such as the access authentication of mobile terminal341 cannot be carried out in mobile terminal ISP network 301. As aresult, the mobile terminal ISP that provides a communication systemservice such as described hereinabove may suffer disadvantages.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a communicationsystem, connection control apparatus, mobile terminal, base stationcontrol method, service request method, and program that allow mobileterminal 341 to communicate with another node in home NW 304 by way offemtocell base station 342 without traversing mobile terminal ISPnetwork 301, and further, that allow mobile terminal ISP to controlwhether this communication can be provided.

Means for Solving the Problem

The communication system of the present invention for achieving theabove-described objects includes an ISP (Internet Service Provider)network that is connected to a network that includes a home network andthat is a window for accessing the network by the mobile terminal, abase station that is installed within the home network, that accepts arequest to access the network from the mobile terminal, and thatgenerates a data path with the ISP network, and a mobile terminal thatuses the data path to access the network by way of the ISP network;wherein:

the communication system includes authentication means and connectioncontrol means within the ISP network;

the base station, upon accepting a request from the mobile terminal toaccess the home network, transmits information relating to the basestation and the mobile terminal to the connection control means;

the authentication means, upon the reception in the connection controlmeans of the information that was transmitted from the base station,determines based on the information whether a Home NW-linking servicethat accesses the home network can be provided by way of the basestation without traversing the ISP network, and when the Home NW-linkingservice is possible, reports this capability to the connection controlmeans;

the connection control means, based on the report from theauthentication means, requests the base station to generate a data pathfor providing the Home NW-linking service; and

the base station, in accordance with the request from the connectioncontrol means, generates a data path for providing the Home NW-linkingservice.

The authentication apparatus of the present invention for achieving theabove-described objects is an authentication apparatus that is connectedto a network that includes a home network and that is installed withinan ISP network that is a window by which a mobile terminal accesses thenetwork; wherein: the authentication apparatus, upon reception in theconnection control means that is installed within the ISP network ofinformation that is transmitted from a base station that is installedwithin the home network and that relates to the base station and to themobile terminal that submitted a request to the base station for accessto the home network, determines based on the information whether a HomeNW-linking service that accesses the home network via the base stationwithout traversing the ISP network can be provided to the mobileterminal, and if the Home NW-linking service can be provided, reportsthis capability to the connection control means.

The connection control apparatus of the present invention for achievingthe above-described objects is a connection control apparatus that isconnected to a network that includes a home network and that isinstalled within an ISP network that is a window by which a mobileterminal accesses the network, wherein: when information is receivedthat was transmitted from a base station that is installed within thehome network and that relates to the base station and to the mobileterminal that submitted a request to the base station for access to thehome network, and a notification is received from authentication meansthat is installed within the ISP network indicating that a HomeNW-linking service that accesses the home network via the base stationwithout traversing the ISP network can be provided to the mobileterminal, the connection control apparatus requests the base station togenerate a data path for providing the Home NW-linking service.

The base station of the present invention for achieving theabove-described objects is a base station that is installed within ahome network, that receives a request from a mobile terminal for accessto a network that includes the home network, that is connected to thenetwork, and that generates, with an ISP network that is a window bywhich the mobile terminal accesses the network, a data path used by themobile terminal to access the network via the ISP network; wherein thebase station, upon receiving a request from the mobile terminal foraccess to the home network, transmits information relating to the basestation and the mobile terminal to a connection control means that isinstalled within the ISP network, and upon being requested from theconnection control means to generate a data path for providing a HomeNW-linking service that accesses the home network without traversing theISP network, generates the data path.

The mobile terminal of the present invention for achieving theabove-described objects is a mobile terminal that submits to a basestation that is installed within a home network a request for access toa network that includes the home network, that is connected to thenetwork, and that uses a data path that was generated by the basestation with an ISP network that is a window for accessing the networkto access the network via the ISP network; wherein the mobile terminal,at the time of a request for access to the home network, transmits viathe base station to a connection control means that is installed withinthe ISP, information indicating whether the provision of a HomeNW-linking service that accesses the home network via the base stationwithout traversing the ISP network is desired.

To achieve the above-described objects, the method of the presentinvention for determining whether service can be provided is a serviceprovision capability determination method realized by an authenticationapparatus that is connected to a network that includes a home networkand that is installed within an ISP network that is a window by which amobile terminal accesses the network, the method including a step of,when information that is transmitted from a base station that isinstalled in the home network and that relates to the base station andthe mobile terminal that submitted a request to the base station foraccess to the home network is received in a connection control meansthat is installed within the ISP network, determining based on theinformation whether a Home NW-linking service that accesses the homenetwork via the base station without traversing the ISP network can beprovided to the mobile terminal, and when the Home NW-linking servicecan be provided, reporting this capability to the connection controlmeans.

The base station control method of the present invention for achievingthe above-described objects is a base station control method implementedby a connection control apparatus that is connected to a network thatincludes a home network and that is installed within an ISP network thatis a window by which a mobile terminal accesses the network, the basestation control method including a first request step of, wheninformation that is transmitted from a base station installed within thehome network and that relates to the base station and to the mobileterminal that has submitted a request to the base station for access tothe home network is received and notification is received fromauthentication means installed within the ISP network indicating that aHome NW-linking service that accesses the home network via the basestation without traversing the ISP network can be provided to the mobileterminal, requesting the base station to generate a data path forproviding the Home NW-linking service.

The data path generation method of the present invention for achievingthe above-described objects is a data path generation method implementedby a base station that is installed within a home network, that receivesa request from a mobile terminal for access to a network that includesthe home network, that is connected to the network, and that generates adata path with an ISP network that is a window by which the mobileterminal accesses the network and that is used by the mobile terminal toaccess the network via the ISP network; the data path generation methodincluding a generation step of, when a request for access to the homenetwork is received from the mobile terminal, transmitting informationrelating to the base station and the mobile terminal to connectioncontrol means that is installed within the ISP network, and when thegeneration of a data path for providing a Home NW-linking service thataccesses the home network without traversing the ISP network isrequested from the connection control means, generating the data path.

The service request method of the present invention for achieving theabove-described objects is a service request method realized by a mobileterminal that submits a request to a base station that is installedwithin a home network for access to a network that includes the homenetwork, that is connected to the network, and that uses a data pathgenerated by the base station with an ISP network that is a window foraccessing the network to access the network by way of the ISP network;wherein the service request method includes a first request step of, atthe time of the access request to the home network, transmitting via thebase station to connection control means that is installed within theISP network information indicating whether the provision of a HomeNW-linking service that accesses the home network via the base stationwithout traversing the ISP network is desired or not.

The program of the present invention for achieving the above-describedobjects causes an authentication apparatus, which is connected to anetwork that includes a home network and which is installed within anISP network that is a window by which a mobile terminal accesses thenetwork, to execute a procedure of, when information that is transmittedfrom a base station that is installed within the home network and thatrelates to the base station and to the mobile terminal that submitted arequest to the base station for access to the home network is receivedin connection control means that is installed in the ISP network,determining based on the information whether a Home NW-linking servicethat accesses the home network via the base station without traversingthe ISP network can be provided to the mobile terminal, and if the HomeNW-linking service can be provided, reporting this capability to theconnection control means.

The program of the present invention for achieving the above-describedobjects causes a connection control apparatus, which is connected to anetwork that includes a home network and which is installed within anISP network that is a window by which a mobile terminal accesses thenetwork, to execute a first request procedure of: when information thatis transmitted from a base station installed within the home network andthat relates to the base station and to the mobile terminal that issueda request to the base station for access to the home network is receivedand notification that a Home NW-linking service that accesses the homenetwork via the base station without traversing the ISP network can beprovided to the mobile terminal is received from an authentication meansinstalled within the ISP network, requesting the base station togenerate a data path for providing the Home NW-linking service.

The program of the present invention for achieving the above-describedobjects causes a base station, which is installed within a home network,which receives a request from a mobile terminal for access to a networkthat includes the home network, which is connected to the network, andwhich generates a data path with an ISP network that is a window bywhich the mobile terminal accesses the network that is used by themobile terminal for accessing the network by way of the ISP, to executea generation procedure of, when a request is received from the mobileterminal for access to the home network, transmitting informationrelating to the base station and to the mobile terminal to connectioncontrol means that is installed within the ISP, and when the generationof a data path for providing a Home NW-linking service that accesses thehome network without traversing the ISP network is requested from theconnection control means, generating the data path.

The program of the present invention for achieving the above-describedobjects causes a mobile terminal, which issues a request to a basestation that is installed within a home network for access to a networkthat includes the home network, which is connected to the network, andwhich uses a data path generated by the base station with an ISP networkthat is the window for accessing the network to access the network byway of the ISP network, to execute a first request procedure of, at thetime of an access request to the home network, transmitting via the basestation to connection control means that is installed within the ISPnetwork information indicating whether the provision of a HomeNW-linking service that accesses the home network via the base stationwithout traversing the ISP network is desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of atypical communication system;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for describing an example of the operations ofthe communication system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communicationsystem of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for describing an example of the operations ofthe communication system shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for describing an example of the operations ofthe second exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for describing another example of the operationsof the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for describing another example of the operationsof the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communicationsystem of Working Example 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart for describing an example of the operations ofthe communication system shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of thecommunication system of Working Example 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart for describing an example of the operations ofthe communication system shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart for describing an example of the operations ofthe communication system of Working Example 3 of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart for describing another example of the operationsof the communication system of Working Example 3 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart for describing an example of the operations ofthe communication system of Working Example 4 of the present invention;and

FIG. 15 is a flow chart for describing another example of the operationsof the communication system of Working Example 4 of the presentinvention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Modes for carrying out the present invention are next described withreference to the accompanying drawings.

First Exemplary Embodiment

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communicationsystem of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the communication system of the present exemplaryembodiment is made up from mobile terminal ISP network 101 that is anISP network; Home GW ISP network 102, access network 103, and home NW104.

The communication system of the present exemplary embodiment can provideto a mobile terminal, in addition to a service for accessing a networkby way of mobile terminal ISP network 101, a Home NW-linking service foraccessing home NW 104 without traversing mobile terminal ISP network101.

Mobile terminal ISP network 101 includes AAA (Authentication,Authorization, and Accounting) server 11, mobile anchor apparatus 12,first access GW (C-plane) 13, and second access GW (U-plane) 14.

In addition, AAA server 11 is one example of the authentication means,and the first access gateway is one example of the connection controlmeans.

AAA server 11 is a server that carries out access authentication of themobile terminal and that also determines whether a Home NW-linkingservice can be provided to the mobile terminal.

Mobile anchor apparatus 12 is connected to a network (not shown in thefigure) and serves as the window with the network when the mobileterminal accesses the network by way of mobile terminal ISP network 101.Mobile anchor apparatus 12 transfers to the mobile terminal IP packetsthat are disbursed to the mobile terminal from terminals or servers onthe network (not shown).

First access GW (C-plane) 13 implements control of mobile terminals andfemtocell access apparatuses (to be described). At the time of accessauthentication of a mobile terminal, first access GW 13 submits aninquiry to AAA server 11 regarding whether a Home NW-linking service canbe provided to the mobile terminal. When the provision of the HomeNW-linking service to the mobile terminal is permitted, first access GW13 further transmits to the femtocell access apparatus a data pathgeneration request instructing the generation of a data path with themobile terminal.

Second access GW (U-plane) 14 constructs a data path for the mobileterminal between the femtocell access apparatus that is to be describedand mobile anchor apparatus 12. Second access GW 14 further transfers tothe mobile terminal IP packets that are disbursed to the mobile terminalfrom apparatuses or servers within mobile terminal ISP network 101.

Although mobile anchor apparatus 12, first access GW 13, and secondaccess GW 14 are here described as separate entities as shown in FIG. 3,they can be merged into a single apparatus.

Home GW ISP network 102 includes router 21.

Router 21 carries out IP routing of IP packets addressed to IP addressesassigned to the Home GW (to be described hereinbelow) or to the prefixof the Home GW or of IP packets having as the transmission origin an IPaddress assigned to the Home GW or the prefix of the Home GW.

Access network 103 includes BAS 31.

BAS 31 has router capabilities and performs access authentication at thetime of an attach request from a mobile terminal or connection to HomeGW ISP network 102.

Home NW 104 includes mobile terminal 41, femtocell access apparatus 42,Home GW 43, and stationary terminal 44.

Mobile terminal 41 is a terminal that uses a data path that is generatedby femtocell access apparatus 42 to carry out communication by way offemtocell access apparatus 42.

Femtocell access apparatus 42 connects to mobile terminal ISP network101 by way of Home GW 43, BAS 31, and router 21. At the access starttime of mobile terminal 41, femtocell access apparatus 42 transmits tofirst access GW 13 an attach trigger that includes linking capabilityinformation that are information elements indicating that femtocellaccess apparatus 42 is itself equipped with a HOME NW-linking capabilityand that the Home NW-linking service can be provided. Upon receiving arequest from first access GW 13 to generate a data path with mobileterminal 41, femtocell access apparatus 42 generates a data path betweenmobile terminal 41 and femtocell access apparatus 42.

Home GW 43 is the gateway apparatus when a terminal within home NW 104communicates with an outside NW. Home GW 43 is further provided with acapability for assigning IP addresses to terminals within home NW 104and capability as a DNS (Domain Name System) server.

Stationary terminal 44 is a terminal that uses an IP address disbursedfrom Home GW 43 to perform communication.

The overall operations of the present exemplary embodiment are nextdescribed in detail.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for describing an example of the operations ofthe communication system shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 4, when mobile terminal 41 first begins access tofemtocell access apparatus 42 to access home NW 104, femtocell accessapparatus 42 detects the attach request of mobile terminal 41 (Step 10).The attach request here described may result from the expresstransmission of an attach request from mobile terminal 41, or may beoccasioned by the establishment of a link between femtocell accessapparatus 42 and mobile terminal 41 or the establishment of a CapabilityNegotiation.

Femtocell access apparatus 42, upon detecting the attach request ofmobile terminal 41, transmits to first access GW 13 an attach triggerthat includes linking capability information (Step 11). The attachtrigger is assumed to include information relating to mobile terminal 41and femtocell access apparatus 42 such as apparatus identifiers.

Upon receiving the attach trigger, first access GW 13 starts the accessauthentication of mobile terminal 41 (Step 12). Upon detecting from thelinking capability information contained in the attach trigger thatfemtocell access apparatus 42 is equipped with the HOME NW-linkingcapability, first access GW 13 transmits an authentication message toAAA server 11 during access authentication to request determination ofwhether the Home NW-linking service can be provided to mobile terminal41. The authentication message includes, for example, informationrelating to mobile terminal 41 and femtocell access apparatus 42 thatwere contained in the attach trigger.

Upon receiving the authentication message, AAA server 11 determineswhether the Home NW-linking service can be provided to mobile terminal41 based on information relating to mobile terminal 41 and femtocellaccess apparatus 42 that is contained in the authentication message. Asthe method of carrying out this determination, methods can be consideredthat use the relation between the user that uses mobile terminal 41 toreceive the communication service and the owner of femtocell accessapparatus 42, or, for example, that permit provision when the user andthe owner are the same person or have a family relation. Thedetermination can also be carried out based on whether the user hasentered into a contract that allows the use of femtocell accessapparatus 42 to receive the communication service.

If the Home NW-linking service can be provided to mobile terminal 41,AAA server 11 reports this capability to first access GW function 13during access authentication. Even if a request for the determination ofwhether service can be provided is not included in the authenticationmessage received from first access GW 13, AAA server 11 may report thisinformation to first access GW 13 during access authentication if theHome NW-linking service can be provided to mobile terminal 41.

First access GW 13 receives the report that the Home NW-linking servicecan be provided to mobile terminal 41 from AAA server 11 and transmitsto femtocell access apparatus 42 a data path generation request thatincludes information instructing the generation of a data path forproviding the Home NW-linking service (Step 13).

Upon receiving the data path generation request, femtocell accessapparatus 42 generates a data path for providing the Home NW-linkingservice between mobile terminal 41 and femtocell access apparatus 42(Step 15). If femtocell access apparatus 42 can acquire an IP addressfor mobile terminal 41 from Home GW 43, femtocell access apparatus 42further acquires the IP address for mobile terminal 41 in advance (Step14) and reports this IP address to mobile terminal 41 at the time ofgenerating the data path between mobile terminal 41 and femtocell accessapparatus 42.

When generation of the data path between mobile terminal 41 andfemtocell access apparatus 42 is completed, femtocell access apparatus42 reports a data path generation response indicating data pathgeneration completion to first access GW 13 (Step 16). If mobileterminal 41 has not acquired an IP address during the generation of thedata path between mobile terminal 41 and femtocell access apparatus 42,mobile terminal 41 acquires an IP address from Home GW 43 aftergeneration of the data path (Step 17).

Using the IP address that was acquired from Home GW 43, mobile terminal41 is then able to communicate with stationary terminal 44 in home NW104 without traversing mobile terminal ISP network 101.

The effect of the present exemplary embodiment is next described.

When an access request has been received in femtocell access apparatus42 from mobile terminal 41 in the communication system of the presentexemplary embodiment as described hereinabove, AAA server 11 determineswhether the Home NW-linking service can be provided to mobile terminal41 and notifies first access GW 13 that the service can be provided whenthe service can be provided, and based on this notification, firstaccess GW 13 issues a request to femtocell access apparatus 42 togenerate a data path for providing the Home NW-linking service andfemtocell access apparatus 42 generates the data path for providing theHome NW-linking service.

In this way, determination of whether the Home NW-linking service can beprovided to mobile terminal 41 can be realized by an apparatus withinmobile terminal ISP network 101, and in addition, when service can beprovided, femtocell access apparatus 42 is caused to generate a datapath for accessing home NW 104 without traversing mobile terminal ISPnetwork 101, whereby communication between mobile terminal 41 and a nodewithin home NW 104 can be carried out by an efficient data path.

Second Exemplary Embodiment

The communication system of the second exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention is of the same configuration as the communicationsystem of the first exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 3, but theoperations of the second exemplary embodiment differ from those of thefirst exemplary embodiment in that mobile terminal 41 clearly expressesthe desire for the Home NW-linking service and femtocell accessapparatus 42 sends linking capability information to mobile terminal 41.

The overall operations of the present exemplary embodiment are nextdescribed in greater detail.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of the operations of thesecond exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The two points ofdifference with the operations of the communication system of the firstexemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4 are first that femtocell accessapparatus 42 clearly sends linking capability information to mobileterminal 41, and secondly, that mobile terminal 41 transmits tofemtocell access apparatus 42 an attach request to which linking-desiredinformation is appended indicating whether the Home NW-linking serviceis desired or not.

Referring to FIG. 5, femtocell access apparatus 42 first sends bybroadcast a Home NW-linking capability-equipped notification thatcontains linking capability information to all terminals in cells thatinclude mobile terminal 41 (Step 20).

Next, mobile terminal 41 transmits an attach request to femtocell accessapparatus 42 to start access to femtocell access apparatus 42 (Step 21).It is here assumed that mobile terminal 41 desires a Home NW-linkingservice, and mobile terminal 41 appends to the attach requestlinking-desired information that indicates that the Home NW-linkingservice is desired. In addition, because femtocell access apparatus 42sends a Home NW-linking capability-equipped notification in advance,mobile terminal 41 may append the linking-desired information to theattach request only when mobile terminal 41 has detected that femtocellaccess apparatus 42 is equipped with the Home NW-linking capability.Although the message to which mobile terminal 41 has appendedlinking-desired information is here taken to be an attach request, themessage is not limited to an attach request, and the message may be amessage that is transmitted to femtocell access apparatus 42 before anaccess authentication message arrives in AAA server 11.

Upon receiving the attach request from mobile terminal 41, femtocellaccess apparatus 42 transmits an attach trigger that contains thelinking capability information and linking-desired information containedin the attach request to first access GW 13 (Step 22).

Upon receiving the attach trigger, first access GW 13 begins accessauthentication of mobile terminal 41 (Step 23). In addition, when firstaccess GW 13 detects from the linking capability information containedin the attach trigger that femtocell access apparatus 42 is equippedwith a capability that enables Home NW linking, first access GW 13transmits an authentication message to AAA server during accessauthentication to request determination of whether the Home NW-linkingservice can be provided to mobile terminal 41.

AAA server 11 next determines whether the Home NW-linking service can beprovided based on information relating to mobile terminal 41 andfemtocell access apparatus 42 that is contained in the authenticationmessage. The method of this determination of capability is similar tothat of the first exemplary embodiment and explanation is therefore hereomitted. If the Home NW-linking service can be provided, AAA server 11reports this capability to first access GW 13 during accessauthentication.

Next, first access GW 13 receives notification from AAA server function11 that the Home NW-linking service can be provided, takes intoconsideration the desire of mobile terminal 41 for the Home NW-linkingservice, and transmits to femtocell access apparatus 42 a data pathgeneration request that includes information instructing the generationof a data path for providing the Home NW-linking service (Step 24).

The subsequent processes (Steps 25-28) are similar to the processes(Steps 14-17) of the first exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4, andexplanation is therefore here omitted.

Operations are next described for a case in the present exemplaryembodiment in which an attach request to which linking-desiredinformation indicating that the Home NW-linking service is not desiredhas been appended is transmitted to femtocell access apparatus 42 whenmobile terminal 41 begins access to femtocell access apparatus 42.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining this example of the operations ofthe second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, femtocell access apparatus 42 first sends bybroadcast a HOME NW-linking capability-equipped notification thatincludes linking capability information to all terminals in cells thatinclude mobile terminal 41 (Step 30).

Next, mobile terminal 41 transmits an attach request to femtocell accessapparatus 42 to start access to femtocell access apparatus 42 (Step 31).Because mobile terminal 41 does not desire the Home NW-linking servicein this case, mobile terminal 41 appends to the attach requestlinking-desired information that indicates that the Home NW-linkingservice is not desired.

Upon receiving the attach request from mobile terminal 41, femtocellaccess apparatus 42 transmits an attach trigger that includes linkingcapability information and the linking-desired information that wascontained in the attach request to first access GW 13 (Step 32).

Upon receiving the attach trigger, first access GW 13 begins accessauthentication of mobile terminal 41 (Step 33). Upon detecting from thelinking capability information that is contained in the attach triggerthat femtocell access apparatus 42 is equipped with the HOME NW-linkingcapability, first access GW 13 transmits an authentication message toAAA server 11 during access authentication to request determination ofwhether the Home NW-linking service can be provided to mobile terminal41.

AAA server 11 next determines whether the Home NW-linking service can beprovided based on information relating to mobile terminal 41 andfemtocell access apparatus 42 that is contained in the authenticationmessage. If the Home NW-linking service can be provided, AAA server 11during access authentication notifies first access GW 13 that theservice can be provided.

Next, first access GW 13 receives the notification from AAA serverfunction 11 that the Home NW-linking service can be provided, takes intoconsideration that mobile terminal 41 does not desire the HomeNW-linking service, and transmits a data path generation request tosecond access GW 14 to create a data path between second access GW 14and mobile anchor apparatus 12 (Step 34). Upon receiving this request,second access GW 14 generates a data path between second access GW 14and mobile anchor apparatus 12 (Step 35), and upon completion ofgeneration, transmits a data path generation response to first access GW13 (Step 36).

In order to create a data path between second access GW 14 and mobileterminal 41, first access GW 13 transmits a request to femtocell accessapparatus 42 to generate a data path with mobile terminal 41 (Step 37).Upon receiving this request, femtocell access apparatus 42 generates adata path between mobile terminal 41 and femtocell access apparatus 42(Step 38), and following completion of the generation, returns a datapath generation response (Step 39). In this way, a data path is createdbetween second access GW 14 and mobile terminal 41, i.e., between mobileterminal ISP network 101 and mobile terminal 41.

Mobile terminal 41 subsequently carries out communication with serversor terminals on the network (not shown) by way of a data path withmobile terminal ISP network 101.

Operations are next described for a case in which, following theoperations shown in the flow chart of FIG. 6 in the present exemplaryembodiment, mobile terminal 41 issues a request to femtocell accessapparatus 42 to generate a new bearer that is a new data path thatallows access to home NW 104 through the Home NW-linking service.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for describing another example of the operationsof the communication system of the second exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. In FIG. 7, it is assumed that as the initial state,mobile terminal 41 implements an access request without desiring a HomeNW-linking service, and a data path is therefore established with mobileterminal ISP network 104. It is further assumed that along with thesesteps, first access GW 13 is notified at the time of accessauthentication of mobile terminal 41 from AAA server 11 that theprovision of a Home NW-linking service to mobile terminal 41 ispermitted.

Referring to FIG. 7, mobile terminal 41 first transmits to femtocellaccess apparatus 42 a bearer generation request to which is appendedlinking-desired information indicating that a Home NW-linking service isdesired (Step 40).

Upon receiving the bearer generation request, femtocell access apparatus42 transfers the bearer generation request to first access GW 13 (Step41). When transferring the bearer generation request, femtocell accessapparatus 42 may append linking capability information to the bearergeneration request.

By analyzing the bearer generation request, first access GW 13 nextdetermines whether mobile terminal 41 is requesting the generation of anew bearer that can provide the Home NW-linking service, and if thegeneration of a bearer is being requested, checks whether permission toprovide the Home NW-linking service to mobile terminal 41 has beensupplied from AAA server 11.

Because permission to provide the service has been supplied from AAAserver function 11 in this case, first access GW 13 transmits tofemtocell access apparatus 42 a data path generation request thatcontains information instructing the generation of a data path forproviding the Home NW-linking service (Step 43).

The subsequent processes (Steps 43-46) are similar to the processes(Steps 14-17) of the first exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4, andfurther explanation is therefore here omitted.

The effect of the present exemplary embodiment is next described.

As described hereinabove, in the present exemplary embodiment, thedesire or lack of desire for a Home NW-linking service is clearlyexpressed at the time that mobile terminal 41 begins access to femtocellaccess apparatus 42 or at the time of requesting the generation of a newbearer.

As a result, a data path that reflects the desire of mobile terminal 41can be generated in femtocell access apparatus 42 and mobile terminalISP network 101.

In addition, femtocell access apparatus 42 sends linking capabilityinformation to terminals in cells that include mobile terminal 41, andmobile terminal 41 is therefore able to determine whether the HomeNW-linking service is desired or not based on the linking capabilityinformation.

WORKING EXAMPLES

Best modes for implementing the present invention are next describedusing actual working examples.

Working Example 1

Working Example 1 of the present invention is the first exemplaryembodiment in concrete form.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communicationsystem of Working Example 1 of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 8, the communication system of the present workingexample is made up from mobile terminal ISP network 101, Home GW ISPnetwork 102, access network 103, and home NW 104, similar to the firstexemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

In mobile terminal ISP network 101, HSS 111 corresponds to AAA server11, PDN-GW 112 corresponds to mobile anchor apparatus 12, MME 113corresponds to first access GW 13, Serving GW 114 corresponds to secondaccess GW 14; in Home GW ISP network 102, router 121 corresponds torouter 21; in access network 103, BAS 131 corresponds to BAS 31; and inhome NW 104, mobile terminal 141 corresponds to mobile terminal 41,femtocell base station 142 corresponds to femtocell access apparatus 42,Home GW 143 corresponds to Home GW 43, and stationary terminal 144corresponds to stationary terminal 44.

The overall operation of the present working example is next describedin detail.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart for explaining an example of the operations ofthe communication system shown in FIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 9, mobile terminal 141 transmits an Attach Request tofemtocell base station 142 as an attach request to begin access tofemtocell base station 142 (Step 100).

Upon receiving the Attach Request from mobile terminal 141, femtocellbase station 142 transmits to MME 113 an attach Request that containslinking capability information as an attach trigger (Step 101).

Upon receiving the Attach Request, MME 113 begins access authenticationof mobile terminal 141 (Step 102). In addition, upon detecting from theAttach Request that femtocell base station 142 is equipped with the HOMENW-linking capability, MME 113 during access authentication transmits anauthentication message to HSS 111 to request determination of whetherthe Home NW-linking service can be provided to mobile terminal 141.

HSS 111 next carries out a determination of whether the Home NW-linkingservice can be provided based on, for example, information relating tomobile terminal 141 and femtocell base station 142 that is contained inthe authentication message. If the Home NW-linking service can beprovided, HSS 111 notifies this capability to MME 113 during accessauthentication.

MME 113 next receives the notification from HSS 111 that the HomeNW-linking service can be provided and transmits to femtocell basestation 142 an Attach Accept that contains information instructing thegeneration of a data path for providing the Home NW-linking service as adata path generation request (Step 103).

Upon receiving the Attach Accept, femtocell base station 142 acquires anIP address for mobile terminal 141 from Home GW 143 for the purpose ofproviding an IP address for providing the Home NW-linking service tomobile terminal 141 (Step 104). When femtocell base station 142 knows anIP address for mobile terminal 141 beforehand, this phase is skipped.

Femtocell base station 142 next exchanges “RRC ConnectionReconfiguration/RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete” with mobileterminal 141 (Steps 105 and 106) and generates a data path betweenmobile terminal 141 and femtocell base station 142. Femtocell basestation 142 further communicates the IP address to mobile terminal 141in the course of generating the data path between mobile terminal 141and femtocell base station 142.

Upon completion of the generation of a data path between mobile terminal141 and femtocell base station 142, femtocell base station 142 transmitsto MME 113 an Attach Complete as the data path generation response (Step107).

Mobile terminal 141 subsequently uses the data path that was generatedto access home NW 104 without traversing mobile terminal ISP network 101and communicates with stationary terminal 144.

Working Example 2

Working Example 2 of the present invention is also an actualization ofthe first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of thecommunication system of Working Example 2 of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 10, the communication system of the present workingexample is made up from mobile terminal ISP network 101, Home GW ISPnetwork 102, access network 103, and home NW 104, as in the firstexemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

In mobile terminal ISP network 101, AAA server 211 corresponds to AAAserver 11, HA (Home Agent) 212 corresponds to mobile anchor apparatus12, and ASN (Access Service Network)-GW 213 corresponds to first accessGW 13 and second access GW 14. The other constituent elements are thesame as Working Example 1 and further explanation is therefore hereomitted.

The overall operation of the communication system of the present workingexample is next described in detail.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart for describing an example of the operations ofthe communication system shown in FIG. 10.

Referring to FIG. 11, mobile terminal 141 first begins access offemtocell base station 142, and following the establishment of a linkwith femtocell base station 142 (Step 200), begins SBC (SubscriberStation Capability) Negotiation (Step 201).

In the course of the SBC Negotiation with mobile terminal 141, femtocellbase station 142 transmits to ASN-GW 213 an MS_PreAttachment_Req thatcontains linking capability information as an attach trigger (Step 202).

Upon receiving the MS_PreAttachment_Req, ASN-GW 213 stores theinformation indicating that femtocell base station 142 is equipped withthe Home NW-linking capability and returns an MS_PreAttachment_Res tofemtocell base station 142.

Upon completion of SBC Negotiation, femtocell base station 142 transmitsan MS_PreAttachment_Ack to ASN-GW 213 (Step 203).

Upon receiving the MS_PreAttachment_Ack, ASN-GW 213 transmits to mobileterminal 141 an EAP Request/Identity by way of femtocell base station142 to begin the access authentication of mobile terminal 141 (Step204).

Upon receiving the EAP Request/Identity, mobile terminal 141 returns EAPRequest/Identity-NAI to ASN-GW 213 by way of femtocell base station 142(Step 205).

Upon receiving the EAP Request/Identity-NAI, ASN-GW 213 begins theaccess authentication of mobile terminal 141 (Step 206). In addition,ASN-GW 213 detects from MS_PreAttachment_Req that femtocell base station142 is equipped with the Home NW-linking capability, and therefore,during access authentication transmits an authentication message torequest AAA server 211 for determination of whether the Home NW-linkingservice can be provided to mobile terminal 141.

AAA server 211 next determines whether the Home NW-linking service canbe provided based on, for example, information relating to mobileterminal 141 and femtocell base station 142 that is contained in theauthentication message. If the Home NW-linking service can be provided,AAA server 211 reports this information to ASN-GW 213 during accessauthentication.

Upon success of the access authentication, ASN-GW 213 executes aregistration process for negotiation of the capabilities of MAC (MediaAccess Control) layers and sharing of security information forencrypting the data that are exchanged between mobile terminal 141 andfemtocell base station 142 (Steps 207-209).

Because notification indicating that the Home NW-linking service can beprovided has been received from AAA server 211, ASN-GW 213 nexttransmits, as a data path generation request to femtocell base station142, a Path_Reg_Req that contains information instructing the generationof a data path for providing the Home NW-linking service (Step 210).

Upon receiving the Path_Reg_Req, femtocell base station 142 exchangesDSA-REQ/RSP with mobile terminal 141 (Step 211) and then generates adata path between mobile terminal 141 and femtocell base station 142.

When the generation of the data path between mobile terminal 141 andfemtocell base station 142 has been completed, femtocell base station142 reports Path_Reg_Rsp to MME 113 as the data path generation response(Step 212).

After completion of the generation of a data path between mobileterminal 141 and femtocell base station 142, mobile terminal 141executes an IP address acquisition process (Step 213). Morespecifically, a message of a process such as Stateful AddressConfiguration or Stateless Auto Address Configuration by DHCP istransferred from femtocell base station 142 to Home GW 143, wherebymobile terminal 141 acquires an IP address that is disbursed by Home GW143.

Mobile terminal 141 subsequently uses the data path that was generatedto access home NW 104 without traversing mobile terminal ISP network 101and carries out communication with stationary terminal 144.

Working Example 3

Working Example 3 of the present invention is the actualization of thesecond exemplary embodiment.

The configuration of the communication system of the present workingexample is similar to the configuration of the communication system ofWorking Example 1 shown in FIG. 8, but the operations differ from thoseof Working Example 1 in that mobile terminal 141 clearly expresseswhether the Home NW-linking service is desired or not and femtocell basestation 142 sends linking capability information to mobile terminal 141.

The overall operations of the communication system of the presentworking example are next described in detail.

The operations in the present working example in which mobile terminal141 accesses home NW 104 by way of femtocell base station 142 are firstdescribed.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart for describing an example of the operations ofthe communication system of Working Example 3 of the present invention.In the operations of the present working example shown in FIG. 12, thetwo points that differ from the operations of the communication systemof Working Example 1 shown in FIG. 9 are the use of System Informationby femtocell base station 142 to expressly send linking capabilityinformation to mobile terminal 141 and the transmission by mobileterminal 141 to femtocell base station 142 of an Attach Request to whichis appended linking-desired information that indicates whether mobileterminal 141 desires a Home NW-linking service or not.

Referring to FIG. 12, femtocell base station 142 first uses a SystemInformation message to send linking capability information in abroadcast to all terminals in cells that include mobile terminal 141(Step 300).

Mobile terminal 141 next transmits an Attach Request to femtocell basestation 142 to begin access to femtocell base station 142 (Step 301). Atthis time, mobile terminal 141 desires a Home NW-linking service andtherefore sets the Attach Type of the Attach Request to “femtocellAccess.”

Upon receiving the Attach Request from mobile terminal 141, femtocellbase station 142 includes linking capability information in the AttachRequest received from mobile terminal 141 and transfers the AttachRequest to MME 113 (Step 302).

Upon receiving the Attach Request, MME 113 begins the accessauthentication of mobile terminal 141 (Step 303). In addition, upondetecting from the Attach Request that femtocell base station 142 isequipped with the Home NW-linking capability, MME 113 during accessauthentication transmits an authentication message to request HSS 111 todetermine whether the Home NW-linking service can be provided to mobileterminal 141.

HSS 111 next determines whether the Home NW-linking service can beprovided based on, for example, information relating to mobile terminal141 and femtocell base station 142 that is contained in theauthentication message. If the Home NW-linking service can be provided,HSS 111 reports this information to MME 113 during accessauthentication.

MME 113 next receives from HSS 111 notification that the Home NW-linkingservice can be provided, and taking into consideration the desire forthe Home NW-linking service by mobile terminal 141, transmits tofemtocell base station 142 an Attach Accept that contains informationinstructing the generation of a data path for providing the HomeNW-linking service (Step 304).

The subsequent processes (Steps 305-308) are the same as the processes(Steps 104-107) of Working Example 1 shown in FIG. 9 and furtherexplanation is therefore here omitted.

Operations are next described regarding a case in the present workingexample in which, after a data path has been established with mobileterminal ISP network 101, mobile terminal 141 requests the generation ofa new bearer that allows access to home NW 104 by the Home NW-linkingservice. At the time of the access authentication of mobile terminal 141when generating a data path between mobile terminal 141 and mobileterminal ISP network 101, it is assumed that MME 113 is notified of thepermission to provide the Home NW-linking service to mobile terminal 141from HSS 111.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart for explaining this example of the operations ofthe communication system of Working Example 3 of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13, mobile terminal 141 first transmits, as a bearergeneration request to femtocell base station 142, a Request BearerResource Allocation to which is appended an LBI (Linked Bearer ID) thatindicates the desire for the Home NW-linking service (Step 400).

Upon receiving the Request Bearer Resource Allocation, femtocell basestation 142 transfers the request to MME 113 (Step 401).

MME 113 next analyzes the Request Bearer Resource Allocation, and upondetermining that the generation of a bearer that allows access to homeNW 104 by the Home NW-linking service is being requested by mobileterminal 141, checks whether permission to provide the Home NW-linkingservice to mobile terminal 141 has been supplied from HSS 111. In thiscase, permission for providing service has been supplied from HSS 111,and MME 113 therefore transmits, as a data path generation request tofemtocell base station 142, a Bearer Setup Request that includesinformation instructing the generation of a data path for providing theHome NW-linking service (Step 402).

Upon receiving the Bearer Setup Request, femtocell base station 142, inorder to provide mobile terminal 141 with an IP address for the HomeNW-linking service, acquires an IP address for mobile terminal 141 fromHome GW 143 (Step 403). If femtocell base station 142 knows an IPaddress for use by mobile terminal 141 beforehand, this phase isskipped.

Femtocell base station 142 next exchanges RRC ConnectionReconfiguration/RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete with mobileterminal 141 (Steps 404 and 405) and generates a data path betweenmobile terminal 141 and femtocell base station 142. In the course ofgenerating the data path, femtocell base station 142 further reports tomobile terminal 141 the IP address that was acquired from Home GW 143.

When the generation of the data path between mobile terminal 141 andfemtocell base station 142 is complete, femtocell base station 142transmits a Bearer Setup Response to MME 113 as the data path generationresponse (Step 406).

Mobile terminal 141 subsequently uses the data path that was generatedto access home NW 104 without traversing mobile terminal ISP network 101and carries out communication with stationary terminal 144.

Working Example 4

Working Example 4 of the present invention is an actualization of thesecond exemplary embodiment.

The configuration of the communication system of the present workingexample is similar to the configuration of the communication system ofWorking Example 2 shown in FIG. 10, but the operations differ from thoseof Working Example 2 in that mobile terminal 141 clearly indicateswhether there is a desire for Home NW-linking service and femtocell basestation 142 sends linking capability information to mobile terminal 141.

The overall operations of the communication system of the presentworking example are next described in detail.

Explanation first regards the operations in the present working examplein which mobile terminal 141 accesses home NW 104 by way of femtocellbase station 142.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart for describing an example of the operations ofthe communication system of Working Example 4 of the present invention.In the operations of the present working example shown in FIG. 14, thepoints of difference with the operations of the communication system ofWorking Example 2 shown in FIG. 11 are the two points that femtocellbase station 142 uses a DL-MAP message to expressly send linkingcapability information to mobile terminal 141 and that mobile terminal141 transmits to ASN-GW 213 by way of femtocell base station 142 an EAPResponse/Identity that includes linking-desired information thatindicates whether the Home NW-linking service is desired or not.

Referring to FIG. 14, femtocell base station 142 first uses the DL-MAPmessage to send by broadcast linking capability information to allterminals within cells that include mobile terminal 141 (Step 500).

Mobile terminal 141 next begins access to femtocell base station 142,and after a link is established with femtocell base station 142 (Step501), begins SBC Negotiation (Step 502).

Femtocell base station 142 next, in the process of the SBC Negotiationwith mobile terminal 141, transmits to ASN-GW 213 anMS_PreAttachment_Req that includes linking capability information (Step503).

Upon receiving the MS_PreAttachment_Req, ASN-GW 213 stores theinformation that femtocell base station 142 is equipped with thecapability for enabling Home NW linking and returns anMS_PreAttachment_Rsp to femtocell base station 142.

When the SBC Negotiation is complete, femtocell base station 142transmits an MS_PreAttachment_Ack to ASN-GW 213 (Step 504).

Upon receiving the MS_PreAttachrnent_Ack, ASN-GW 213 transmits an EAPRequest/Identity to mobile terminal 141 to begin access authenticationof the mobile terminal (Step 505).

Because it is here assumed that mobile terminal 141 desires the HomeNW-linking service, upon receiving the EAP Request/Identity, mobileterminal 141 sets information that indicates the desire for the HomeNW-linking service to the Outer NAI of the EAP Response/Identity andtransmits this EAP Response/Identity to ASN-GW 213 (Step 506). A formatsuch as “{at =1} username@realm” can be considered as the format of theinformation that is set to the Outer NAI. It is here assumed that thedesire for the Home NW-linking service is indicated when “at” is anabbreviation of “Attach Type,” and the value of the Attach Type is “1.”

Because ASN-GW 213 detects from the MS_PreAttachment_Req that femtocellbase station 142 is equipped with the Home NW-linking capability, uponreceiving the EAP Response/Identity, ASN-GW 213 begins the accessauthentication of mobile terminal 141 (Step 507) and transmits anauthentication message during access authentication to request AAAserver 211 to determine whether the Home NW-linking service can beprovided to mobile terminal 141.

AAA server 211 next determines whether the Home NW-linking service canbe provided based on, for example, information relating to mobileterminal 141 and femtocell base station 142 that is contained in theauthentication message. If the Home NW-linking service can be provided,AAA server 211 reports this information to AAA server 213 during accessauthentication.

The subsequent processes (Steps 508-514) are the same as the processes(Steps 207-213) of Working Example 2 shown in FIG. 11 and furtherexplanation is therefore here omitted.

Explanation next regards operations in the present working example inwhich, following establishment of a data path with mobile terminal ISPnetwork 101, mobile terminal 141 requests the generation of a new bearerthat is able to access home NW 104 through the Home NW-linking service.In addition, it is assumed that at the time of access authentication ofmobile terminal 141 when generating a data path between mobile terminal141 and mobile terminal ISP network 101, ASN-GW 213 is notified ofpermission from AAA server 211 to provide the Home NW-linking service tomobile terminal 141.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart for explaining an example of the operations ofthe communication system of Working Example 4 of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 15, mobile terminal 141 transmits, as a bearergeneration request to femtocell base station 142, a DSA (Dynamic ServiceAddition) Request to which is appended an APN (Access Point Name) thatindicates that the Home NW-linking service is desired (Step 600).

Upon receiving the DSA Request, femtocell base station 142 transmits toASN-GW 213 a DP_Reg_Req indicating that mobile terminal 141 isrequesting the generation of a new bearer that can access home NW 104through the Home NW-linking service (Step 601).

ASN-GW 213 analyzes the DSA Request, and upon determining that mobileterminal 141 is requesting the generation of a bearer that allows accessto home NW 104 through the Home NW-linking service, verifies whetherpermission to provide the Home NW-linking service to mobile terminal 15has been supplied from AAA server 211. Because permission to provide theHome NW-linking service has been supplied from AAA server 211 in thiscase, ASN-GW 213 transmits to femtocell base station 142 a DP_Reg_Rspthat includes information that instructs the generation of a data pathfor providing the Home NW-linking service (Step 602).

Upon receiving the DP_Reg_Rsp, femtocell base station 142 determinesthat the Home NW-linking service can be provided to mobile terminal 141.

Femtocell base station 142 next exchanges DSA Response/DSA Ack withmobile terminal 141 (Steps 603 and 604) and generates a data pathbetween mobile terminal 141 and femtocell base station 142.

When the generation of the data path between mobile terminal 141 andfemtocell base station 142 is completed, mobile terminal 141 acquires anIP address for the Home NW-linking service from Home GW 143 by way offemtocell base station 142 (Step 605).

Mobile terminal 141 subsequently uses the data path that was generatedto access home NW 104 without traversing mobile terminal ISP network 101and communicates with stationary terminal 144.

The method that is carried out in the femtocell base station,authentication means, connection control means, and mobile terminal ofthe present invention may also be applied to a program for causingexecution by the femtocell base station, authentication means,connection control means, and mobile terminal. This program can also bestored in a storage medium or provided to the outside by way of anetwork.

Although the present invention has been described hereinabove withreference to exemplary embodiments and working examples, the presentinvention is not limited to these exemplary embodiments and workingexamples. The construction and details of the present invention asdefined in the claims are open to various modifications within the scopeof the invention that will be understood by one of ordinary skill in theart.

This application claims the benefits of priority based on JapanesePatent Application No. 2008-259659 for which application was submittedon Oct. 6, 2008 and incorporates by citation all of disclosures of thatapplication.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A communication system comprising: a homenetwork; an ISP (Internet Service Provider) network that is connected tobetween an external network and said home network, and that is a windowfor accessing said external network by a mobile terminal; and a basestation that is installed within said home network, and that has acapability of generating a data path between said home network and saidISP network, said data path being used by said mobile terminal to accesssaid external network, upon reception of a request from said mobileterminal for access to said external network, wherein: an authenticatorand a connection controller are provided within said ISP network; saidbase station, upon accepting a request from said mobile terminal foraccess to other terminal within said home network, transmits informationrelating to said base station and said mobile terminal to saidconnection controller; said connection controller transmits saidinformation to said authenticator; said authenticator, upon reception ofsaid information that was transmitted from said base station, determinesbased on the information whether or not a Home NW-linking service, thatsaid mobile terminal uses to access said other terminal within said homenetwork via said base station without traversing said ISP network, canbe provided to said mobile terminal, and when provision of said HomeNW-linking service is possible, reports this capability to saidconnection controller; said connection controller, based on said reportfrom said authenticator, requests said base station to generate a datapath for providing said Home NW-linking service; and said base station,in accordance with said request from said connection controller,generates a data path for providing said Home NW-linked service.
 2. Thecommunication system as set forth in claim 1, wherein: said connectioncontroller, upon receiving said information from said base station,submits an inquiry to said authenticator as to whether said HomeNW-linking service can be provided to said mobile terminal; and saidauthenticator, in accordance with said inquiry from said connectioncontroller, determines whether the Home NW-linking service can beprovided to said mobile terminal.
 3. The communication system as setforth in claim 1, wherein said base station notifies all terminalswithin its own cells that said base station is equipped with acapability for generating a data path for providing said Home NW-linkingservice.
 4. The communication system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:at the time of an access request to said other terminal within said homenetwork, said mobile terminal transmits to said connection controllervia said base station information indicating whether said mobileterminal desires the provision of said Home NW-linking service or not;and when said connection controller receives notification from saidauthenticator indicating that said Home NW-linking service can beprovided to said mobile terminal and said information that was receivedfrom said mobile terminal indicates that the provision of said HomeNW-linking service is desired, said connection controller requests saidbase station to generate a data path for providing said Home NW-linkingservice.
 5. The communication system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:when said mobile terminal, while accessing said external network viasaid ISP network, desires access to said other terminal within said homenetwork through said Home NW-linking service, said mobile terminaltransmits a bearer generation request that requests generation of a newdata path that includes information indicating the desire for theprovision of said Home NW-linking service to said connection controllervia said base station; and when said connection controller receives saidbearer generation request and has received notification from saidauthenticator that service can be provided, said connection controllerrequests said base station to generate a data path for providing saidHome NW-linking service.
 6. An authentication apparatus that isinstalled within an ISP network which is connected to between anexternal network and a home network, said ISP network being a window bywhich a mobile terminal accesses said external network; comprising: aprocessor coupled to a memory, wherein: said processor, upon receptionof information relating to a base station which is installed within saidhome network and said mobile terminal which submitted a request to saidbase station for access to other terminal within said home network, fromsaid base station via a connection controller which is installed withinsaid ISP network, determines based on the information whether or not aHome NW-linking service, that said mobile terminal uses to be able toaccess anytime said other terminal within said home network via saidbase station without traversing said ISP network, can be provided tosaid mobile terminal, and if is once determined that said HomeNW-linking service can be provided, instructs said base station toaccept anytime said request from said mobile terminal, via saidconnection controller.
 7. A connection control apparatus that isinstalled within an ISP network which is connected to between anexternal network and a home network, said ISP network being a window bywhich a mobile terminal accesses said external network, comprising: aprocessor coupled to a memory, wherein: said processor, upon receptionof information relating to a base station which is installed within saidhome network and said mobile terminal which submitted a request to saidbase station for access to other terminal within said home network, fromsaid base station, transmits said information to an authenticator whichis installed within said ISP network, and notification is once receivedfrom said authenticator indicating that a Home NW-linking service, thatsaid mobile terminal uses to be able to access anytime said otherterminal within said home network via said base station withouttraversing said ISP network, can be provided to said mobile terminal,said connection control apparatus requests said base station to generateanytime a data path for providing said Home NW-linking service, based onsaid request from said mobile terminal.
 8. The connection controlapparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein when said information isreceived from said base station, said processor submits an inquiry tosaid authenticator as to whether said Home NW-linking service can beprovided to said mobile terminal.
 9. The connection control apparatus asset forth in claim 7, wherein: at the time of requesting access to saidother terminal within said home network, said mobile terminal transmitsto said connection control apparatus via said base station informationindicating whether the provision of said Home NW-linking service isdesired or not; and when notification is received from saidauthenticator indicating that said Home NW-linking service can beprovided to said mobile terminal and said information that was receivedfrom said mobile terminal indicates that the provision of said HomeNW-linking service is desired, said processor requests said base stationto generate a data path for providing said Home NW-linking service. 10.The connection control apparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein: whensaid mobile terminal, while using a data path between said ISP networkand said home network, that was generated by said base station, toaccess said external network, desires to access to said other terminalwithin said home network through said Home NW-linking service, saidmobile terminal transmits via said base station to said connectioncontrol apparatus a bearer generation request that requests thegeneration of a new data path including information indicating that theprovision of said Home NW-linking service is desired; and when saidprocessor receives said bearer generation request and has receivednotification from said authenticator that service can be provided, saidprocessor requests said base station to generate a data path forproviding said Home NW-linking service.
 11. A base station that isinstalled within a home network which is connected to an externalnetwork via an ISP network, that receives a request from a mobileterminal for access to said external network, and that generates a datapath which will be used by said mobile terminal to access said externalnetwork via said ISP network, said ISP network being a window by whichsaid mobile terminal accesses said external network; comprising: aprocessor coupled to a memory, wherein: said processor, upon receiving arequest from said mobile terminal for access to other terminal withinsaid home network, transmits information relating to said base stationand said mobile terminal to an authenticator that is installed withinsaid ISP network via a connection controller that is installed withinsaid ISP network, and upon being requested once from said authenticatorvia said connection controller to generate a data path for providing aHome NW-linking service, that said mobile terminal uses to be able toaccess anytime said other terminal within said home network withouttraversing said ISP network, generates anytime the data path based onsaid request from said mobile terminal.
 12. The base station as setforth in claim 11, wherein said processor notifies all mobile terminalsin the cells of said base station that said base station is equippedwith a capability for generating a data path for providing said HomeNW-linking service.
 13. A method of determining whether service can beprovided that is realized by an authentication apparatus that isinstalled within an ISP network which is connected to between anexternal network and a home network, said ISP network being a window bywhich a mobile terminal accesses said external network, the methodcomprising of: receiving information relating to a base station which isinstalled within said home network and said mobile terminal whichsubmitted a request to said base station for access to other terminalwithin said home network, from said base station via a connectioncontroller which is installed within said ISP network; determining basedon said information whether or not a Home NW-linking service, that saidmobile terminal uses to be able to access anytime said other terminalwithin said home network via said base station without traversing saidISP network, can be provided to said mobile terminal; and when it isonce determined that said Home NW-linking service can be provided,instructing said base station to accept anytime said request from saidmobile terminal, via said connection controller.
 14. A base stationcontrol method that is implemented by a connection control apparatusthat is installed within an ISP network which is connected to between anexternal network and a home network, said ISP network being a window bywhich a mobile terminal accesses said external network; the methodcomprising of: upon reception of information relating to a base stationwhich is installed within said home network and said mobile terminalwhich submitted a request to said base station for access to otherterminal within said home network, from said base station, transmittingsaid information to an authenticator which is installed within said ISPnetwork; and upon once reception of notification from said authenticatorindicating that a Home NW-linking service, that said mobile terminaluses to be able to access anytime said other terminal within said homenetwork via said base station without traversing said ISP network, canbe provided to said mobile terminal, requesting said base station togenerate anytime a data path for providing said Home NW-linking service,based on said request from said mobile terminal, as a first requeststep.
 15. The base station control method as set forth in claim 14,further comprising an inquiry step of, when said information is receivedfrom said base station, submitting an inquiry to said authenticator asto whether said Home NW-linking service can be provided to said mobileterminal.
 16. The base station control method as set forth in claim 14,wherein: assuming that at the time of a request for access to said otherterminal within said home network, said mobile terminal transmits viasaid base station to said connection control apparatus informationindicating whether said mobile terminal desires the provision of saidHome NW-linking service; in said first request step, when notificationthat said Home NW-linking service can be provided to said mobileterminal is received from said authenticator and said informationreceived from said mobile terminal indicates that the provision of saidHome NW-linking service is desired, said base station is requested togenerate a data path for providing said Home NW-linking service.
 17. Thebase station control method as set forth in claim 14, further comprisinga second request step of: assuming that when said mobile terminal, whileusing a data path that was generated with said ISP network by said basestation to access said external network via said ISP network, desiresaccess to said other terminal within said home network through said HomeNW-linking service, said mobile terminal transmits to said connectioncontrol apparatus via said base station a bearer generation request thatrequests the generation of a new data path and that includes informationindicating that the provision of said Home NW-linking service isdesired; requesting said base station to generate a data path forproviding said Home NW-linking service when said bearer generationrequest is received and notification that service can be provided isreceived from said authenticator.
 18. A data path generation method thatis implemented by a base station that is installed within a home networkwhich is connected to an external network via an ISP network, thatreceives a request from a mobile terminal for access to said externalnetwork and that generates a data path which will be used by said mobileterminal to access said external network via said ISP network, said ISPnetwork being a window by which said mobile terminal accesses saidexternal network; the method comprising of: upon receiving a request foraccess to other terminal within said home network from said mobileterminal, transmitting information relating to said base station andsaid mobile terminal to an authenticator that is installed within saidISP network via a connection controller that is installed within saidISP network; and upon being requested once from said authenticator viasaid connection controller to generate a data path for providing a HomeNW-linking service that said mobile terminal uses to be able to accessanytime said other terminal within said home network without traversingsaid ISP network, generating anytime the data path based on said requestfrom said mobile terminal.
 19. The data path generation method as setforth in claim 18, further comprising a notification step of notifyingall mobile terminals within cells of said base station that said basestation is equipped with a capability of generating a data path forproviding said Home NW-linking service.